ENG 382: Screenwriting Bishop s University, Winter 2009

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1 Instructor: Dr. Steven Woodward Office: Morris 17 Class time: Tues. & Thurs., 10:00-11:30 Office telephone: 2250 Classroom: Hamilton 303 address: Office hours: Mon. & Wed. 11:30-1:00 Description (from the Academic Calendar) This course introduces students to the art and techniques of screenwriting for a variety of contexts and genres, such as feature films and television drama. Through critical analysis of existing screenplays and the shows and films that derive from them, students will gain an understanding of the narrative and stylistic conventions of screenwriting and will apply their understanding in the development of their own creative projects. Required Texts and Readings Field, Syd. Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting. Rev. Ed. New York: Delta, ISBN Readings posted on Moodle, drawn from the following texts: Linda Seger, The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact and Fiction into Film Robert McKee, Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting Lajos Egri, The Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives Christopher Vogler, The Writer s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers Andrew Horton, Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay Paul Lucey, Story Sense: Writing Story and Script for Feature Films and Television William Miller, Screenwriting for Film and Television Screenplays from websites listed below, under Useful Websites, and posted on Moodle. Relevant Magazines Scr(i)pt Creative Screenwriting Hollywood Scriptwriter Useful Websites The Daily Script. The Weekly Script. Internet Movie Script Database. Internet Movie Database. Writer s Room. Screentalk. Screenwriters Utopia. Done Deal Professional.

2 Software A wide variety of software for writing/formatting your screenplays is available. Your screenplays must be formatted correctly, but it is up to you whether to use software to achieve this. You can download the free Word template Script Smart at but this has a limited number of features. Alternatively, you can buy (at greatly reduced price) an educational version of Final Draft, the most commonly used screenwriting software, at Evaluation Moodle Discussions 12% Group Project #1: Adaptation 10% Outline 10% Step Outline 10% Treatment 10% Group Project #2: TV Series 15% Screenplay Draft 15% Portfolio Review 8% Participation 10% Total 100% Assignment Submission Policy Assignments are due IN CLASS on the due date. Because this is a workshop class in which you will regularly present your ideas to the other students and develop your work throughout the semester, you must be ready to present on your scheduled days and keep up to schedule. Late assignments simply cannot be accepted, except in the case of documented medical situations. You may NOT submit assignments by . Hard copy of your assignment MUST be submitted into the HANDS of the instructor or the departmental secretary (Morris 2). Attendance and Participation Regular attendance is absolutely essential, and your thoughtful participation is crucial to the success of this workshop class. Class Cancellations Class cancellations will usually be announced in advance or on Moodle. However, in the event that the instructor does not arrive at the class on time, students should wait for 15 minutes before assuming that the class is cancelled and leaving the classroom. Consultations If you need additional help or advice on any aspect of the course, please come to talk to me during my office hours, listed above, or get in touch with me via to arrange an appointment time. 2

3 Assignments Eng 382: Screenwriting In this class, your working process is as important as the final product you create. For that reason, you will keep all of your work, including copies of your group work and the instructor s response to your work, in a single portfolio, adding elements to it throughout the course, and submitting the entire portfolio to the instructor for a final review at the end of the course. Moodle Postings Due: screenplay choices by January 9; Moodle postings on Jan. 15 and Feb. 3, 5, and 12 Weight: 12% Choose two feature-film screenplays that are available from the first three websites listed on page 1 under Useful Websites, preferably for very different kinds of story, and indicate your choices by January 9 th on Moodle. Read these screenplays all the way through. Then, in preparation for our discussion of particular issues in class (i.e. what makes a movie, dramatic premise, mythic method, enriching character), post a comment on Moodle that considers one of your chosen screenplays in the light of this issue. You may also be asked to contribute to other in-class discussions based on your knowledge of these screenplays. Group Project #1: Adaptation Due: Jan. 27 or 29 Length: 5 pages maximum (double-spaced); 10 minutes maximum for pitch Work in groups of three. Your group must choose an obituary from the New York Times Magazine online ( which you will use as the inspiration for a feature-film idea. Taking at least some of the elements from that obituary (you do NOT need to have your character die at the end), write a compelling outline for a film that fits Syd Field s notion of feature form. Your outline will not only describe the major incidents in your story, but will also clearly identify protagonist, setting, objective, obstacles, and resolution, and demonstrate your awareness of the need to shape your story into a three-act dramatic structure. In addition to submitting a written outline, your group will pitch this story idea to the class, taking a maximum of 10 minutes. Choreograph the pitch using all three members of your group. You may wish to offer tentative casting choices to help your audience visualize the characters. Outline Due: Feb. 5 Length: 5 pages maximum (double-spaced) Write a compelling outline of a story that you think has the potential to be developed into a full feature-length screenplay and that conforms either to Field s simple dramatic model, Egri s premisedriven model, or Vogler s mythic model. You will be working with this basic story for the remainder of the course. In your outline, use tags in square brackets to indicate how the details of your story correspond to the typical pattern of one of the models. For example, if you were following Vogler s model, you might have a passage like this: 3

4 Daniel is hopeless, desolate, exhausted [refusal of the call]. Marie is gone forever, though her toys are scattered all over the room. He sits on the couch in the midst of this museum of pain, his mind drifting to memories associated with each object, until he falls into troubled dreams. The phone jolts him awake. What time is it? He listens to an unknown man s [the mentor] raspy whisper: She s alive. If you look hard, you ll find her... in three years. Step Outline Due: Feb. 17 or 19 Length: 10 pages maximum (double-spaced); 5 minutes maximum for pitch Since you identified the rough nature of your story for the outline, you should have been thinking about a way of telling your story with a limited number of scenes. A typical feature film has between forty and sixty scenes. Using index cards in the manner described by McKee ( ) or Final Draft s simulated index cards, work out the scenes you will need to tell that story. You will present this carefully shaped story to the class in the form of a pitch, not by describing every scene but by focusing on the crucial details of exposition and the crucial moments of conflict and resolution. Take a maximum of 5 minutes for your pitch. On the date of your pitch, you must also give the instructor a step outline, based on your index cards, which lists (using properly formatted slug lines) and briefly describes all of the scenes. Treatment Due: March 10 or 12 Length: 20 pages maximum (double-spaced) Take your step outline and expand it into a treatment. To some extent, you should follow McKee s advice about treatment (see Moodle), but you do not need to include nearly as much detail about character motivation and response as he suggests in the version of the treatment you submit to me (though you may wish to make notes about these to yourself). McKee discusses the treatment as a working document for the writer. Concentrate, instead, on offering a compelling telling of your story for your reader, including a few lines of the most critical dialogue. On the day you submit your treatment, you will have the opportunity to discuss any changes you have made in your story or characters, or realizations you have had about the working process. 4 Group Project #2: TV Series Due: March 26 or 31 Length: 15 pages maximum (double-spaced); 10 minutes maximum for pitch Weight: 15% Working in a group of three, develop a concept for a TV series, either a sitcom or a one-hour drama. Create a treatment for your show that identifies and describes the major characters and their relationships to each other, then offers a general overview of the action and character interaction of a typical episode. To illustrate your ideas, include an outline for one episode (other than the pilot) of your series. As with the first group project, you will pitch this one to the class. What is the idea (or premise, in Egri s terms) at the core of the show? Give your audience a very clear sense of the characters (again,

5 Eng 382: Screenwriting perhaps with reference to casting choices), the drama or comedy of the storyline, and the overall atmosphere of the show. Refer to existing shows as a way of classifying your own (e.g. Our show is Californication, but from a woman s point of view ). Screenplay Draft Due: April 2 or 7 Length: 20 pages minimum (in correct screenplay format; see Field, Ch.13) Weight: 15% Begin to expand your treatment into a first draft of a screenplay, following standard screenplay format. You must complete at least the first ten minutes (about ten pages) of your story in screenplay form and then you may select any other portions of your story that you wish to draft, for a minimum of twenty pages. Leave the sections of the treatment that have not been converted in place. In preparation for Critique #3, you must make copies of your first ten pages available to the entire class, at least a day in advance. Upload a file with those pages to Moodle. We will discuss your opening scenes in the critique. Portfolio Review Due: April 2 or 7, submitted with your Screenplay Draft Weight: 8% At the end of the semester, the instructor will review your entire body of work, noting your progress. Make sure that this portfolio has the copies of your work that include the instructor s comments (i.e. do NOT submit clean copy). Workshop Participation Since this is a writing workshop, you need to be forthcoming, creative, and engaged, both in discussing your own ideas and in responding to those of others. 5

6 Class Schedule Note that in the list of readings, (Moodle) indicates that the text can be found online through Moodle. Additional readings may be announced as the course progresses. Date Subject Reading/Screening/Assignment Jan. 8 Introduction: The Screenwriter as Architect Jan. 13 Simple Story, Complex Character Linda Seger (Moodle) SCREENING: Life Lessons (Martin Scorcese, 1989) Jan. 15 Discussion: What Makes a Movie? Field, Intro. and Ch. 1 Jan. 20 Product vs. Process Field, Ch. 13; Robert McKee (Moodle) Jan. 22 Finding an Idea Field, Chs. 2-5 Jan. 27 Group Project #1 Adaptation Field, Ch. 15 Adaptation Outline due Jan. 29 Group Project #1 Adaptation Adaptation Outline due Feb. 3 Dramatic Premise Lajos Egri (Moodle) Feb. 5 Mythic Method Christopher Vogler (Moodle) Collateral screenplay, pp ( Outline due Feb. 10 Shaping an Idea Field, Chs Feb. 12 Enriching Character Andrew Horton (Moodle) Feb. 17 Critique #1: Pitching Your Step Outline due Story Feb. 19 Critique #1: Pitching Your Step Outline due Story Feb. 24 The Problem of Dialogue Paul Lucey (Moodle) Feb. 26 Selling Your Work Field, Chs. 17 & 18 Examples of coverage (Moodle) READING WEEK Mar. 10 Critique #2: Project Updates Treatment due Mar. 12 Critique #2: Project Updates Treatment due Mar. 17 Writing for Television William Miller (Moodle) Mar. 19 Analysis: The One-Hour Drama Lost, Episode 101: Tabula Rasa screenplay (Moodle) Mar. 24 Analysis: The Sitcom Arrested Development, Pilot screenplay ( pilot_.pdf ) Mar. 26 Group Project #2: TV series TV Series Treatment due Mar. 31 Group Project #2: TV series TV Series Treatment due April 2 Critique #3 Screenplay Draft due April 7 Critique #3 Screenplay Draft due 6